But the women say the pipeline is not wise in a dangerously warming world.

“I just finished Naomi Klein’s book… it solidified my enormous concern over climate change and fossil fuels. And building pipelines to transport bitumen across the country, it’s just the wrong thing to do," said Whitmore.

Many activists, including pipeline opponents on the west coast, are realizing the benefits of involving the elderly in energy protests, says Carole Crabtree, a senior with “Solidarity Notes” choir in Vancouver.

The multi-age singers -- along with another seniors group "Raging Grannies" -- were active on Burnaby Mountain during the recent clashes in protest of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. Notably, seniors sang old tunes to give encouragement to those risking arrest.

Unburdened by the worries of career and profession, retirees are jumping into the protests, Crabtree said.

“This whole movement towards protecting the environment, and against extractivisim, is being embraced by a much larger population now.”

The seniors she knows are saying that this is not what they want to see as part of Canada.

"It’s not just the radicals. It’s not just the environmental organizations - this is everybody,” said Crabtree.

Many of the 100 or so people arrested on Burnaby Mountain in November were retirees, including an ex-physician, a retired school teacher, a former French UBC professor, and an 87-year-old rebel rouser named Jean McLaren.

The frail octogenarian protester had RCMP scratching their heads. Though many of those arrested were taken into custody peacefully, a smaller number had to be forced into compliance.

But McLaren's aged presence seemed to have a calming effect on the energy conflict. She said she just wanted to make a point.